Well, guys, it's that time of year again — the New England Patriots will be playing the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LII. Now, most people, both fans and those who simply don't give a sh-t about the NFL, assume that these teams have advanced based on merit and skill. Simple enough, right? Well erm, not so much. See, the Patriots are quite possibly the most hated team in football (next to the Dallas Cowboys, of course) and with that hatred comes, yep, you guessed it — haters!

These haters love to concoct all sorts of conspiracy theories about the Pats, namely how they managed to "hypnotize" (read: pay off) the refs during the AFC Championship to make calls in their favor. Frankly speaking, it's a little bit of a stretch, but, hey! What do we know? The entire NFL could be rigged and we'd be none the wiser.

We will say, however, that perhaps the most damning evidence is what appears to be one of the referees being the first to congratulate Tom Brady on the big win (as seen in the video above). Even if you're a huge fan, isn't it your job to be unbiased — literally? It's just not a good look, and ultimately gives these NFL conspiracy nuts more than just a hunch to go on. Naturally, these conspiracy theories came from Twitter. Come on, where else would they come from?

Regardless of how you feel about the Patriots, they're going to be in the Super Bowl, and, if history has anything to do with it, they're going to win the Super Bowl. To take away from the talent of the players by presuming the refs are corrupt is pretty crappy — also, at the end of day, it's, just, uh, football, guys — not life or death, just saying.